Source: Thecitizen.co.tzBy Bernard LugongoThe Mail on Sunday article questions whether it is proper for Prince Charles and Mr Cameron to shake hands with President Kikwete during the conference set to start today at Lancaster House in London.Dar es Salaam. Parliament is a House divided over a report in a British newspaper that accuses President Jakaya Kikwete’s government of poaching.

While some MPs rushed to the President’s defence yesterday – under the umbrella of Tanzania Parliamentary Group on Sustainable Natural Resources Conservation and Utilisation – Shadow minister for natural resources and tourism Peter Msigwa backed the newspaper. The two camps spoke at separate news conferences in Parliament’s sub-offices in Dar es Salaam. In its weekend edition, the Mail on Sunday wrote that Mr Kikwete’s regime has done nothing to address poaching and has presided over the unprecedented slaughter of elephants in Tanzania’s history. The paper appeared to accuse his administration of complicity in poaching and the illegal ivory trade, which has an annual global value estimated at about £6 billion (about Sh16 trillion). The story broke just before President Kikwete left for the United Kingdom to attend a major anti-poaching conference.

The high-level summit to tackle the illegal wildlife trade kicks off today with heads of state and ministers from 50 governments in attendance. The conference will be led by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson.

Prince Charles will also be present, along with non-governmental organisations and other key figures who are keen to end the illegal trade in wildlife. The Mail on Sunday article questions whether it is proper for Prince Charles and Mr Cameron to shake hands with President Kikwete during the conference set to start today at Lancaster House in London. Addressing journalists in reaction to the report, the deputy chairperson of the parliamentary group, Mr Athumani Mfutakamba, dismissed the newspaper’s position, saying it knows nothing about elephants and poaching. The group, which is registered as a non-governmental organisation in Parliament, has 20 members who describe themselves as defenders of natural resources. According to Mr Mfutakamba, the membership is drawn from different political parties.“We have been shocked by the report that accuses our government of closing its eyes to the poaching issue,” Mr Mfutakamba said. “This paper knows nothing about what is being done in addressing poaching.” But Mr Msigwa said the Mail on Sunday’s report reflected the truth and added that poaching has soiled Tanzania’s image internationally. He added: “Today, as the government is striving to defend itself against the report in the Mail on Sunday, data found within itself shows that in the year 2010, 10,000 elephants were killed in Tanzania. This is equivalent to 37 elephants killed each day. Given the data, how come the Minister for Tourism claims that the British paper has ruined the government’s image?” At some point, he said, Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources Lazaro Nyalandu was quoted admitting that the poaching network was big and involved powerful individuals known to the government and who had been warned to stop the illicit trade. “The statement by the minister proves that the poaching network was linked to State House,” Mr Msigwa said, adding that the official Opposition camp in Parliament had, on several occasions, named poaching suspects but the government had taken no action. “Could the minister tell us how he has cooperated with us in taking action against those suspects, including investigations, so that the public can be satisfied that the suspects are not guilty?” he asked. State House also reacted to the report on Tuesday, saying the story was a deliberate distortion of the truth.

The statement from the Directorate of Presidential Communications said: “It is malicious, preposterous and contemptible.

Contrary to what is being claimed in this story, there are heightened efforts and major achievements are being made by President Kikwete’s administration in wildlife conservation and anti-poaching drive.” To blame President Kikwete’s government and claim that it was presiding over slaughter of elephants was typical case of blaming the victim and ignoring the serious efforts being made by his government, the statement added.

“Instead of these unfounded and malicious attacks,” it said, “the Government of Tanzania deserves compliments and words of encouragement to stay the course and intensify the fight.” State House said nobody was denying that poaching is real and big but the government was responding through many bold and innovative initiatives and actions.

Leave a Reply.

ADMIN. NOTES﻿Due to numerous requests, note that comments for this area are now OPEN.﻿ This page is only for 2014-2015 news. For all prior (2009-2013) posts, see the Animal Poaching News page. Unlike the Animal Poaching News page, this one is not fully indexed (except for "cattle rustling" and only a handful of other categories; see below). Why not? See the Read Me First page.